Locals flock to ‘gas station’ for authentic, fresh Thai food

Blue Pacific owner Sam Aroon holds up a dish of spicy Thai basil chicken. The local joint operates out of the Hoover Mart, which transformed from a gas station and convenience store to a small Thai restaurant with devoted customers.

On first glance, people see a gas station convenience store called Hoover Food Mart. If they look a little closer, they’ll notice customers inside crowding the handful of tables, chowing on some fresh pad Thai from one of Hoover’s locally vetted favorites: Blue Pacific Authentic Thai Cuisine.

For the last four years, owner Sam Aroon said his family-owned business, located on 3219 Lorna Road, has sold traditional, authentic Thai “street food.” The menu is derived from recipes his family previously served in Thailand before they moved to the U.S.

“When we moved, my wife wanted to open a restaurant and cook… She liked to introduce Thai food that isn’t American-styled,” Aroon said.

Aroon, who originally chose Birmingham for its quiet nature, describes Blue Pacific as “simple but good food,” sporting a laid-back environment with frequent regulars and newcomers. Most of the dishes are under $10, and each week there is a new list of specials for every day they’re open. Blue Pacific is staffed entirely by their family, Aroon said, except for cashier Ms. Joy, who they are happy to have with them.

“We try to introduce street food, something that all the visitors and people living in Thailand would find,” he said. “I would say we serve different food than other [Thai restaurants] around here. The taste is different.”

After Aroon found the Hoover Food Mart and bought it, he and his family continued selling drinks and snacks found at the gas station but stopped the use of the gas pump outside. Instead, they put in a bunch of tables and chairs and opened the restaurant. People continued to drop in to grab drinks and snacks, and many of them eventually tried the food. It was slow going at first, Aroon said, but after several months business picked up.

“I interact with customers a lot, treat them like family,” Aroon said.

Over the years, Aroon said they haven’t done any advertising, but longtime restaurant goer Winston Smith said it has grown enormously and developed a cult-like following simply from word-of-mouth. He and his friend Jeremy Irwin, another frequenter of Blue Pacific, said Aroon knows most of the customers by name, and tries to get to know the new ones. A lot of their customers are people who used to live in Thailand and want authentic food, Aroon added.

“This is the best Thai food you can get,” Smith, who comes at least twice a week, said. “It’s so fresh. I can feed me and my friend for $15.”

Smith, who said he’s been there since the first day they opened, often calls in to order since it’s gotten so popular over the years. He said it generally takes only 10 to 15 minutes and then it’s ready, no matter what time or how busy it is when the food is called in.

“Part of the charm from the beginning was just the paper plates and plastic forks, while the food is five-star,” Smith said.

Aroon, described by some of his customers as remaining humble throughout the store’s success, said they had to recently close for two weeks to make the kitchen bigger to accommodate all the food requests. They also had to take the gas pump out of the front to put in more parking spots.

The biggest issue right now, Aroon said, is the seating capacity is really limited, and he wants to add space for more people to be able to sit in the upcoming months or years.

The most popular dishes consist of the classic pad Thai for a noodle dish and the spicy basil for a rice dish. The traditional pad Thai — which Aroon said is purposefully made not to be too sweet and also has a vegetarian option — consists of rice noodles stir-fried with a choice of meat, chopped sweet reddish bean sprouts, green onions, eggs and topped with a fried egg and lime and a side of peanuts on top.

The spicy basil rice dish, which is one of the hottest dishes on the menu, is stir-fried with their Thai chili basil sauce, a choice of meat or tofu, a side of steamed rice and served with a fried egg on top. The steamed rice can be changed to fried for an extra dollar.

If people are feeling more adventurous and want to try something new, Aroon suggests they try the laap, which is a spicy minced pork dish with homemade sweet and sour sauce, red onions and scallions that comes with carrots, lettuce, cucumbers and is topped with crispy rice. Another dish to try is the pad kee mao, another spicy dish of rice noodles stir-fried with a choice of meat and served with Chinese broccoli, eggs, bell peppers and Thai chili basil sauce. Meat choices include chicken, pork, shrimp, beef, a combination or tofu.

House hot sauce is also available for those wanting to make their meal even spicier.

Although they sell six packs of beer and bottles of wine at the store, Blue Pacific doesn’t have an on-premises alcohol license, so it can’t be consumed at the store, only purchased for take out.

Blue Pacific is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch and then 5:30-8:30 p.m. for dinner. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/bluepacificathooverfoodmart or call 978-0754.